Ineffective Plane Boarding Designed To Make Money

Boarding planes is laboriously slow for fliers. But why does the process take so long?

Eric Chemi, Head of Research for BusinessWeek and Bloomberg TV, discusses the ineffective methods airlines use to board planes and the larger schemes involved to nickel and dime passengers.

Chemi says that "the way we board planes right now is the slowest possible way we could do it. If we had just boarded randomly we would board faster."

There's research behind this claim, different variations of boarding that would prove more efficient. However, airlines choose not to do this. The policy change, which slows down the process, encourages customers to pay more for better, faster seating.

Unfortunately, Chemi says that there is no competition to stop or alter the process because the rest of the industry is following suit to earn more profit.